(NEW YORK) — A young child in California has died of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, health officials said.
In a release Tuesday, Riverside University Health System – Public Health did not disclose the child’s name, city of residence or sex, just that they were under age 4.
Additionally, officials did not reveal details about the child’s illness aside from the fact that they died at a local hospital “after contracting a respiratory illness that is possibly linked to Respiratory Syncytial Virus.”
Jose Arballo Jr., spokesman for RUHS – Public Health, told ABC News the death occurred late last week but was only officially released to the public on Tuesday.
He added that the child was experiencing “several days of symptoms” before being brought to the hospital and was only hospitalized for “a short period of time” before they died.
“The loss of a child is devastating and all of Public Health sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, loved ones and anyone impacted by this tragic event,” Dr. Geoffrey Leung, public health officer for Riverside County, said in a statement.
The death comes as infections of RSV continue to spread across the country. Public health officials have said the season has started much earlier than usual, with autumn cases on par with those usually seen in January or February.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, weekly RSV cases nationwide have risen from 5,872 the week ending Oct. 1 to 16,512 the week ending Nov. 5.
In California, the five-week average of positive RSV tests has increased from 353.3 the week ending Oct. 1 to 1,335 the week ending Nov. 5, CDC data shows.
The surge has led to several hospitals operating at or near capacity and emergency departments with long wait times.
Health experts have said RSV is emerging earlier and affecting more children than typical because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, there was little to no RSV activity due to lockdowns, school closures and mitigation measures such as mask wearing and social distancing. Now, with most of these measures lifted, children are being exposed to viruses like RSV for the first time.
“That just leaves a lot of children, young children in particular, that have been born since March of 2020 who haven’t yet encountered RSV infections,” Dr. Larry Kociolek, medical director of Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, told ABC News in a recent interview. “And so that will increase the ability of the virus to spread and increase the number of children who will get infected.”
Although deaths are not common and usually occur among those with pre-existing conditions, between 100 and 500 pediatric deaths are attributed to RSV every year, according to the CDC.
This is not the first reported death from RSV in the U.S. Earlier this month, California reported a pediatric death from a combination of RSV and the flu with deaths also reported in Michigan and Oklahoma.
Arballo Jr. said the county is also investigating the death of a child under the age of 10 who tested positive for RSV.
The county is asking families over the holiday season to be very careful around babies and young children, who are particularly susceptible to RSV. Arballo Jr. said adults should consider wearing a face mask and frequent hand washing, and advised against handling children if ill.
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — The 22-year-old who is suspected of gunning down multiple people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado’s second-largest city has been moved from the hospital to the local jail, police announced Tuesday.
The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was allegedly beaten by people inside the bar after opening fire, is being held without bond on 10 “arrest only” charges: five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, according to online court records. However, those charges “are only preliminary,” according to Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen, who serves El Paso and Teller counties.
“There have been reports that charges have been filed. That is not true,” Allen said at a press conference Monday. “Any case like this, an arrest warrant will be written up that is supported by probable cause affidavit and that will be submitted to a judge for approval of the arrest of a suspect. That has occurred here in this case.”
“Any charges associated with an arrest warrant are only preliminary charges,” he added. “Very customary that final charges may be different than what’s in the arrest affidavit. Typically, there will be more charges than what is listed in the arrest affidavit. So don’t be surprised when you see a different list of charges when we finally file formal charges with the court.”
The Colorado state public defender wrote in court filings released Tuesday that Aldrich is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and “will be addressed as Mx. Aldrich” in formal filings.
Aldrich is expected to have their first court appearance on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. local time, court records show. Allen told ABC News the appearance is to let Aldrich know the charges they’re facing and advise them on the no bond status.
The appearance will be done via video link from jail, according to the district attorney.
“Within a few days of that first appearance is when we will return to the courtroom and file formal charges with the court,” he added.
Aldrich allegedly began shooting a long gun as soon as they entered Club Q in Colorado Springs late Saturday night. At least five people were killed and 17 others were wounded by the gunshots, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department, which named the deceased victims as Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump and Raymond Green Vance.
Police said “two heroes” — identified as Thomas James and Richard Fierro — confronted Aldrich and fought with them, stopping the suspect from shooting more people. Officers responded to the scene and detained Aldrich just after midnight, less than six minutes after the first 911 call came in, according to police. Aldrich sustained “significant” but non-life-threatening injuries, Allen told ABC News.
Fierro, who served in the military, said he grabbed the suspect’s pistol from them and beat them. Fierro’s daughter’s boyfriend was among the five killed.
President Joe Biden spoke to Fierro to offer his condolences and thank “him for his bravery,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing Tuesday.
The El Paso County district court has sealed the arrest warrant and supporting documentation connected with Aldrich’s arrest. According to the motion by prosecutors, if the records were “released, it could jeopardize the ongoing case investigation.”
In June 2021, Aldrich was arrested in an alleged bomb threat incident after their mother alerted authorities that they were “threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” according to a press release posted online last year by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. While no explosives were found in his possession, Aldrich was booked into the El Paso County Jail on two counts of felony menacing and three counts of first-degree kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office.
Aldrich’s 2021 arrest may not have appeared on background checks because the case does not appear to have been adjudicated, officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
ABC News and other news organizations have petitioned the court in Colorado to unseal the records regarding Aldrich’s 2021 arrest.
Allen told ABC News on Tuesday that after the suspect has their first court appearance, the DA will appeal to have Aldrich’s sealed 2021 records opened next week.
Colorado’s red flag law, which went into effect in 2020, allows relatives, household members and law enforcement to ask a judge to order the seizure of a gun owner’s weapons if that owner is believed to be a risk to themself or others. It’s unclear whether that law would have stopped the suspect from targeting Club Q, according to El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder, who did not recall the circumstances surrounding Aldrich’s 2021 arrest when asked by ABC News.
Club Q has been serving the Colorado Springs community for two decades and was considered a safe haven for LGBTQ people. The nightspot hosts a weekly drag show and live DJ on Saturday nights, according to its website.
Club Q co-owner Nic Grzecka told ABC News that Aldrich was a stranger to their long-established venue.
“He’s never spent money on a credit card or ID ever scanned in our business that we know of,” Grzecka said in an interview on Sunday. “I think this was a community of target for him.”
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told ABC News that the suspect “had considerable ammo” and “was extremely well armed” when they allegedly walked into Club Q. While a motive remains under investigation, Suthers said “it has the trappings of a hate crime.”
“But we’re going to have to see what the investigation shows in terms of, you know, social media and things like that to make a clear determination exactly what the motive was,” the mayor said in an interview on Monday.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Irving Last, Josh Margolin, Alyssa Pone, Tonya Simpson, Stephanie Wash, Robert Zepeda and Ashley Riegel contributed to this report.
(HENNESSEY, Okla.) — The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation identified a suspect in a quadruple homicide at a marijuana farm outside a small town in Oklahoma, but won’t release the person’s name because doing so would put others in danger, the agency said Tuesday.
Police said that a male suspect entered a building at the marijuana farm located west of Hennessey, Oklahoma, at 5:45 p.m. local time on Sunday and allegedly killed three men and one woman. One person was injured and was airlifted to an area hospital, police said.
The suspect was at the site “for a significant amount of time before the executions began,” OSBI said.
OSBI is working alongside the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation, officials said on Monday.
The names and ages of the victims were not released, but authorities confirmed that they were all Chinese citizens.
The victim’s family members were not notified yet “because of a significant language barrier,” OSBI said.
The Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office said it received a call Sunday about a possible hostage situation. Sheriff’s deputies discovered four dead bodies upon arriving at the scene, according to OSBI.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, but law enforcement officials said they don’t believe this was a random event.
(WASHINGTON) — An Ohio man was charged with threatening to carry out a school shooting at a California middle school, the Justice Department announced this week.
Alex Jaques, 21, was charged with making interstate threats – and the FBI found out because he posted videos of his guns on YouTube, according to the Justice Department.
In the video posted on YouTube, Jaques allegedly shot a Chromebook and then made threats to Washington Middle School in Salinas, California.
“The video shows an Uzi-style weapon being discharged in rapid succession and multiple shots fired from a rifle-style weapon,” a release from DOJ says. That video was titled “Torture testing a Chromebook (Washington Middle School),” DOJ says. They say he obtained the laptop because one of his siblings allegedly went to the school.
Court documents say that Jaques made direct threats to the school.
“Hello guys, we are going to be torture testing a… Washington Middle School Chromebook, yea Washington Middle School Chromebook from Salinas, California where I plan to eventually return… uh to fill out my list of duties … that I have filled out with names and addresses of people who have wronged me throughout the years anyways … SUH SD that’s uh Salinas Union High School District,” Jaques said.
He then immediately stabbed the laptop repeatedly with a screwdriver, according to a compliant filed in federal court by DOJ.
“Jaques later stated, ‘Washington Middle School you are next,’ then fires at the Washington Middle School laptop multiple times with what appears to be three separate firearms,” the complaint continued.
Law enforcement says they found the weapon when they searched the home.
A lawyer for Jaques did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(LINCOLN COUNTY, Miss.) — D’Monterrio Gibson, the 24-year-old Mississippi man who authorities say escaped a racially motivated attempted murder, said he’s “satisfied” that charges were upgraded against the two men suspected of ambushing him.
A Lincoln County grand jury indicted Gregory Case, 57, and Brandon Case, 35, who are father and son, on Monday for the attempted murder of Gibson. The two previously faced aggravated assault charges.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Johnny Hall told ABC News the men were arrested after a jury released the indictments for their arrests for attempted murder, conspiracy and shooting into a vehicle.
On Jan. 24 around 7 p.m. in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Gibson was attempting to deliver FedEx packages and was allegedly ambushed by Gregory Case as he was pulling out of a driveway, according to Gibson’s attorney Carlos Moore. Moore said Brandon Case shot at his client’s vehicle.
According to affidavits obtained by ABC News, Brandon Case attempted to cause bodily injury to Gibson after allegedly shooting at the FedEx rental he was driving. Gregory Case was previously charged with aggravated assault after allegedly chasing Gibson with his pickup truck and trying to block him from leaving a driveway.
“I’ll be more satisfied when we get to trial and see how everything plays out,” Gibson told ABC News on Tuesday.
Moore said he and Gibson were disappointed it took so long for the charges to be upgraded.
“Ten months, nearly 10 months from the date he was accosted, assaulted, almost killed, we finally have an indictment or indictments,” Moore said.
Moore said he’s asked the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI to investigate Gibson’s case as a hate crime.
“I can see no other reason than white supremacy racial animus towards Mr. Gibson that motivated the Cases to do what they did,” Moore said.
Attorneys for the Cases did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
The Cases will be arraigned in December, according to Moore, and a trial may begin as early as May 2023.
According to the Brookhaven municipal court, attorneys for the Cases entered not guilty pleas on their behalf.
Moore said FedEx sent Gibson back on the same route after the alleged incident took place and plans to sue the company for “racial discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
Gibson said he’s currently in therapy to heal from the alleged incident.
“I’m still trying to cope with everything … really there’s been no progress as far as therapy,” he said.
“FedEx takes this situation very seriously, and we remain both saddened and outraged by what Mr. Gibson experienced,” A FedEx spokesperson said in a statement obtained by ABC News. “At FedEx, our workforce is as diverse as the world we serve, and the safety of our team members is our top priority. We remain focused on Mr. Gibson’s wellbeing and continue to support him, including pay under our benefits policy.”
ABC News’ Kendall Ross contributed to this report.
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(ORLANDO) — Florida officials are seeking to fine an amusement park operator at least $250,000 over the death of a 14-year-old boy who fell from a drop-tower ride earlier this year.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which inspects amusement rides in the state, filed an administrative complaint Tuesday against Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot LLC, the operator of the Orlando FreeFall ride, alleging multiple violations of state law.
Tyre Sampson, an eighth grader who visited ICON Park in Orlando with his football team on March 24, died from blunt force trauma after slipping out of his seat while on the ride.
The department’s investigation concluded that Tyre fell “due to the changes made” by the ride’s operator, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried said during a press briefing Tuesday.
Tyre was seated in one of two seats on the Orlando FreeFall ride where the harness proximity sensor was manually repositioned to allow for a larger restraint opening than the ride’s other seats, Fried said. The ride’s attendants were instructed to seat larger guests in those seats, according to the department’s complaint.
“Because his seat harness proximity sensor had been improperly adjusted, the ride was allowed to commence even though the ride was unsafe and led directly to his fall,” Fried said.
The investigation also found there was “minimal training” conducted on the 430-foot-tall ride and that neither the attendants nor the operator had read or seen the manufacturer’s manual, Fried said. The manual noted that the maximum weight for the drop-tower ride was 286 pounds; Tyre weighed approximately 383 pounds, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges the operator violated several state statutes and rules requiring that amusement park rides be operated safely and that employees are adequately trained.
“We are seeking an administrative fine exceeding $250,000, one of the largest administrative fines the department has ever sought, and a permanent revocation of the ride’s operating permit in the state of Florida,” Fried said.
Fried said she has also instructed her staff to forward their findings to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to consider criminal charges.
ABC News did not immediately receive a response seeking comment on the complaint’s allegations from Orlando Eagle Drop Slingshot.
The attorneys for Tyre’s parents called the complaint “a significant step toward full accountability.”
“This week, Tyre’s family will experience their first holiday season without him,” personal injury attorneys Ben Crump of Ben Crump Law and Bob Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales said in a joint statement. “His family will always have an empty seat at the table — that anguish deserves accountability in the highest sense from the entities responsible for this tragedy.”
Sampson’s parents have filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit accusing ICON Park and other defendants, including the manufacturer and the operator of the FreeFall ride, of negligence.
In the wake of Tyre’s death, state Sen. Geraldine Thompson has proposed legislation to increase ride safety based on the department’s findings. The Tyre Sampson Law proposes an increase in inspections and required training, as well as expanded signage about patron requirements.
Thompson said during Tuesday’s press event that the “significant” fine “will put on notice” other amusement park ride operators “that there are consequences to not following the laws here in the state of Florida.”
The Orlando FreeFall ride has been closed since Tyre’s death. Now that the state’s investigation is complete, Thompson said she expects the ride to be removed.
(PHILADELHPIA) — Philadelphia police are investigating a string of armed home invasions involving Temple University students at off-campus housing.
The most recent incident occurred Monday around 6:18 a.m., when police say two men dressed in all black entered a home on the 1900 block of North 18th Street, several blocks from the university. One of the suspects wore a mask and was armed with an Uzi-style weapon, police said.
The suspects made off with several iPhones, an iPad, Apple Watches, a MacBook Pro and a Glock 19 handgun before fleeing in a black 2022 Black Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross also stolen from the property, police said. No injuries were reported and the car was recovered, police said.
Four people, including two male Temple students, were inside the home at the time, according to ABC Philadelphia station WPVI.
“They woke them up and they just had guns pointed at them,” a third roommate who wasn’t home at the time told WPVI.
“My roommates kept calm and gave them what they wanted,” he said.
The home invasion was reported nearly two weeks after two similar incidents in the area also involving Temple students at off-campus housing.
On Nov. 9 at around 4:40 a.m., three masked men in dark clothing — two of whom were armed with guns — entered a home also located on the 1900 block of North 18th Street, police said. They “approached” three 19-year-old female victims and fled the scene with a laptop, backpack, car keys and identification, police said. No one was injured.
“I hear all this rummaging upstairs in the kitchen. It sounded like multiple people, so my heart started like beating. I was shaking in bed. I didn’t know what to do,” one of the victims, Kayla Barone, told WPVI.
Barone said she tried to call to warn her two roommates, but they were asleep. She then called 911. The men locked her two roommates in one room while forcing Barone to hand over her belongings, including her cellphone, she said. They fled when they realized she had called 911, she said.
Two days later, on Nov. 11, at around 6 a.m., nine women and two men between the ages of 20 and 22 were woken up, rounded up at gunpoint and locked in a basement after two masked men dressed in black entered their apartment on the 1300 block of North 15th Street, police said.
The suspects took each victim’s cellphones, debit cards and credit cards, as well as the keys to a 2015 silver Lincoln MKZ, before fleeing in the vehicle, police said. The car and two of the cellphones were ultimately recovered, police said. No one was injured.
The victims’ credit and debit cards were used shortly after the robbery, police said Tuesday while releasing surveillance footage of the two suspects.
The victims were also Temple students, school officials confirmed.
“You never think it’s going to happen to you, but when it does, it’s like a shock,” one student told WPVI.
No arrests have been made in any of the home invasion robberies.
Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the three incidents are connected, police said.
(CHARLOTTE) — A meteorologist and a helicopter pilot for CBS Charlotte affiliate WBTV are dead after their helicopter crashed near a North Carolina interstate highway, the station confirmed.
WBTV meteorologist Jason Myers and pilot Chip Tayag were killed in the crash, which occurred midday Tuesday near Interstate 77, WBTV said.
“The WBTV family is grieving a terrible loss. Our news helicopter Sky3 crashed mid-day Tuesday with two of our colleagues on board,” the station said in a statement. “Meteorologist Jason Myers and pilot Chip Tayag lost their lives. We are working to comfort their families in this difficult time. We appreciate the outpouring of support for our staff and your continued prayers for their families.”
The two victims were pronounced dead at the scene, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief of Police Johnny Jennings said.
Jennings called the pilot a “hero,” as the helicopter crashed just off the interstate, missing traffic and preventing additional loss of life.
“It seems the pilot that was operating the aircraft made some diversionary moves to avoid traffic,” Jennings told reporters during a press briefing Tuesday. “That pilot is a hero in my eyes.”
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash of the Robinson R44 helicopter.
Myers, a North Carolina native, grew up in the Charlotte area watching WBTV, the station said.
He started his broadcast meteorology career at KRBC in Abilene, Texas, before going on to work at ABC Richmond, Virginia, affiliate WRIC.
He was most recently the chief meteorologist for ABC Lexington, Kentucky, affiliate WTVQ before returning to the Charlotte area.
“It comes with terrible sadness to hear the news of Jason Myers’ passing,” Chris Aldridge, a general manager for WTVQ, said in a statement. “Jason was a meteorologist for our WTVQ — ABC 36 News team for six years and we enjoyed every minute of our time together.”
“At this time of Thanksgiving, please wrap your prayers and thoughts around the Myers family as we remember a man gone too soon,” he said.
Myers leaves behind his wife, Jillian, and their four children.
Tayag started working for WBTV in 2017 and had been a pilot for more than 20 years, the station said.
(ALBANY, N.Y.) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed two bills into law Tuesday that will expand hate crime education and training in the state, saying there is a “rising tide of hate” across the country and violence prevention is the state’s “highest priority.”
The first bill will require people convicted of hate crimes to undergo training on hate crime prevention and education as part of their sentence. The training is currently optional but not a requirement. The court or local agencies must authorize the programs, training sessions or counseling sessions.
The second bill launches a statewide campaign run by New York’s Division of Human Rights that will promote acceptance, inclusion, tolerance and understanding of the diversity of New Yorkers. In addition, public and private organizations will work to develop educational materials to be published online, on social media and on other platforms to reach the public, according to the bill.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that there are acts of violence and hatred that exist throughout our country and within our own city, in our own state,” Hochul said at a press conference Tuesday.
Last week, two men were arrested in connection with an alleged threat to attack synagogues in New York City. Hochul thanked the early warning system and law enforcement officials for their apprehension, but warned that these kinds of attacks are on the rise.
“Domestic violence extremism is the greatest threat to homeland security,” Hochul said.
“This hatred, this violence, will not be tolerated; not now, not ever,” Hochul said.
The two bills are a part of Hochul’s efforts to fight and prevent hate crimes. They are supported by $245 million in federal funding to support homeland security preparedness, counter terrorism and emergency preparedness in the state, and $96 million in state and federal funding, to safeguard nonprofit, community-based organizations at risk of hate crimes and attacks.
Hochul announced $9 million in Homeland Security grants last month for bomb squads, tactical teams, infrastructure protection, local government and cybersecurity and will redirect $10 million in state funds to support county governments. In addition, Hochul encouraged community-based organizations to apply for funding for the $50 million set aside to strengthen safety measures and protect against hate crimes.
“Why not New York? Why shouldn’t we be the place that teaches the rest of the nation, how you can do things differently?” Hochul said.
A gunman opened fire last May in a Tops supermarket store in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 Black people. A grand jury in New York returned a 25-count indictment charging the 18-year-old gunman with carrying out a “domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate.”
After the Buffalo shooting, Hochul established a domestic terrorism unit within New York’s intelligence center that focuses on social media. Hochul called on New Yorkers to take action and report warning signs when they see them.
“I’d much rather be in the business of preventing crimes and preventing acts of hatred and trying to solve them afterward,” Hochul said.
(COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.) — The man suspected of opening fire at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado’s second-largest city over the weekend was previously arrested in an alleged bomb threat incident last year, ABC News has learned. But authorities said it’s unclear whether the state’s red flag law could have prevented the mass shooting.
According to a press release posted online last year by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a report of a bomb threat on Rubicon Drive in the Lorson Ranch neighborhood of Colorado Springs, just south of the city’s airport, on the afternoon of June 18, 2021. A woman had called, saying “her son was threatening to cause harm to her with a homemade bomb, multiple weapons, and ammunition,” the sheriff’s office said. She was not at home at the time and was not sure where her son was.
Deputies were deployed to the woman’s home and realized that the suspect — identified as then-21-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich — was actually at another residence on Pilgrimage Road, about a mile away. They contacted Aldrich by telephone and he “refused to comply with orders to surrender,” the sheriff’s office said.
A tactical support unit was called in and approximately 10 homes in the immediate surrounding area were evacuated, while an emergency notification was sent to cellphones of residents within a quarter-mile radius, according to the sheriff’s office.
A crisis negotiations unit ultimately was able to get Aldrich to comply with orders. He walked out the front door of the home and was taken into custody that evening, officials said. The regional explosives unit then cleared both residences and did not find any explosive devices, the sheriff’s office said.
Aldrich was booked into the El Paso County Jail on two counts of felony menacing and three counts of first-degree kidnapping, according to the sheriff’s office. Colorado Springs ABC affiliate KRDO reported on the incident at the time.
Aldrich, now 22, allegedly began shooting a long gun as soon as he entered Club Q in Colorado Springs late Saturday night. At least five people were killed and 17 others were wounded by the gunshots, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Police said “two heroes” confronted Aldrich and fought with him, stopping him from shooting more people. Officers responded to the scene and detained Aldrich just after midnight, less than six minutes after the first 911 call came in, according to police.
Aldrich was injured in the alleged incident and remains hospitalized. As of Monday, he was being held without bond on 10 “arrest only” charges — five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of committing a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, according to online court records for Colorado’s El Paso County. Colorado’s Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen, who serves El Paso and Teller counties, told reporters Monday that those charges “are only preliminary” and subject to change once formal charges are filed.
The court has sealed the arrest warrant and supporting documentation connected with Aldrich’s latest arrest. According to the motion by prosecutors, if the records were “released, it could jeopardize the ongoing case investigation.”
Law enforcement officers briefed on the investigation confirmed to ABC News that Aldrich was previously arrested in an alleged bomb threat incident in June 2021, after the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office was alerted that he was in possession of a homemade bomb.
Officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News the gun Aldrich allegedly used in Saturday’s shooting was a legally purchased assault-style rifle and that his 2021 arrest may not have appeared on background checks because the case does not appear to have been adjudicated.
Homeowner from 2021 bomb threat incident speaks out
Colorado Springs resident Leslie Bowman told ABC News that she was renting a room to Aldrich’s mother, Laura Voepel, at the time of the bomb threat incident in June 2021. Bowman’s home on Pilgrimage Road was where the police standoff with Aldrich and his ultimate arrest took place, she said.
Authorities initially went to Voepel’s mother’s house on Rubicon Drive before responding to Bowman’s residence on Pilgrimage Road, according to Bowman.
“[Aldrich] apparently had an altercation with his grandparents and threatened them with a weapon,” Bowman told ABC News via telephone on Sunday. “He left their house, which was less than five minutes from my house, …and came over to my house and Laura let him in. And I know that he brought in a gun.”
Bowman said Aldrich livestreamed a “shocking” video via his mother’s Facebook account from inside Bowman’s home while authorities were outside, showing himself with a gun as well as a helmet and vest that resembled body armor. Security cameras at Bowman’s home also captured Aldrich entering the residence that day and surrendering to authorities hours later. ABC News has obtained the since-deleted Facebook Live video as well as the aforementioned footage from Bowman’s Ring doorbell camera.
“I was told at the time that there were explosives involved. But I’ve also since been told that maybe there wasn’t,” she told ABC News. “I didn’t get any follow up from the police or the DA or anyone about the case after the incident to testify or anything else. I just didn’t get any follow-ups and so I had very little information on what they did actually find.”
Voepel lived there for a total of roughly 15 months and moved out two days after the incident, according to Bowman.
Last month, on Oct. 18, deputies from the El Paso County Sheriff showed up at Bowman’s home seeking to conduct a wellness check on Voepel, according to Bowman, who said she hasn’t heard from Voepel or Aldrich since the alleged bomb threat incident last year.
After reading a local news report, Bowman said she learned that the case against Aldrich was dropped in court at some previous date and the records were sealed.
“I just thought it was really strange,” she told ABC News. “But again, I was like, well, I haven’t heard from these people in over a year, nobody was hurt and [I’m] just going to move on with my life.”
On Sunday morning, when Aldrich was identified as the suspect in the nightclub shooting, Bowman said she was “shocked and horrified.”
“It made me very upset and angry that this person who did what he did last year, obviously had violent intentions, was let go and now five people are dead,” she told ABC News. “I think there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
Bowman said the only other incident involving Aldrich being aggressive toward her happened at her home one night when she returned from a long road trip and Voepel complained to her about a problem with the bathroom.
“I was like: ‘Well, you know, it’s late, I’m exhausted. I’ll have to deal with this tomorrow.’ And she and I kind of got into it a little bit,” Bowman recalled. “Andy got in my face and, because I was standing at her bedroom door, he told me to get out and slammed the door in my face.”
“I just kind of chalked it up to, you know, teenage guy, you know, trying to be aggressive and protect his mom kind of thing,” she added. “I just let it go and there weren’t really any problems with him after that. You know, just that one kind of display of aggression and everything else was fine up until the bomb threat situation.”
Motive ‘has the trappings of a hate crime,’ mayor says
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told ABC News that the suspect “had considerable ammo” and “was extremely well armed” when he allegedly walked in to Club Q. While a motive remains under investigation, Suthers said “it has the trappings of a hate crime.”
“But we’re going to have to see what the investigation shows in terms of, you know, social media and things like that to make a clear determination exactly what the motive was,” the mayor said in an interview on Monday.
Club Q co-owner Nic Grzecka told ABC News that Aldrich was a stranger to their long-established venue.
“He’s never spent money on a credit card or ID ever scanned in our business that we know of,” Grzecka said in an interview on Sunday. “I think this was a community of target for him.”
Authorities decline to discuss suspect’s criminal history
Although the suspect may not have been known at the LGBTQ nightspot, which has been serving the Colorado Springs community for two decades, Aldrich was clearly known to local law enforcement. However, Colorado has very strict privacy laws when it comes to cases that were dismissed. Once dismissed, cases are sealed and authorities are prohibited from mentioning their existence, which apparently is why officials initially had not been forthcoming about Aldrich’s prior arrest.
ABC News and other news organizations have petitioned the court in Colorado to unseal the records regarding Aldrich’s 2021 arrest.
During a press conference on Sunday morning, police declined to say whether Aldrich is the same person arrested in last year’s bomb threat incident.
Colorado’s state court system announced via Twitter on Sunday that “there are no public records available under the name Anderson Lee Aldrich related to this weekend’s shooting in Colorado Springs, or any other matter in Colorado.” A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office in Colorado Springs has not responded to questions from ABC News, other than referring to the state court system’s tweet.
When given details of Aldrich’s previous arrest, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder told ABC News that he did not recall and had no information about the June 2021 incident.
“I have 900 employees, so, you know 550 sworn [deputies] — it’s the largest county in Colorado,” Elder said via telephone on Sunday. “I wouldn’t have any clue.”
Elder also told ABC News that he doesn’t know whether more enforcement of Colorado’s red flag law in El Paso County would have made a difference in the shooting at Club Q. The state’s red flag law, which went into effect in 2020, allows relatives, household members and law enforcement to ask a judge to order the seizure of a gun owner’s weapons if that owner is believed to be a risk to themselves or others.
“I don’t know anything specific about the shooter, so I don’t know if it would have mattered or not,” Elder said.
When asked whether Aldrich should have been allowed to possess weapons following his arrest in June 2021, the Colorado Springs mayor told ABC News that state law “prevents law enforcement at this point in time from commenting on any prior criminal activity.”
“But I think the district attorney will go to court today and we’ll be able to comment on any prior interaction with the police fairly quickly, hopefully in the next couple of days,” Suthers said in Monday’s interview.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Jenna Harrison, Julia Jacobo, Aaron Katersky, Jennifer Leong, Lisette Rodriguez, Kevin Shalvey, Jennifer Watts and Robert Zepeda contributed to this report.
